Royal Free Grammar School

“Learning is an addition beyond
Nobility of birth: honour of blood,
Without the ornament of knowledge, is
But a glorious ignorance.”

Shirley.

This noble public institution for the education of youth was founded by King Edward the Sixth, in 1561, on the supplication of Hugh Edwards and Richard Whitaker, and endowed with the greater portion of the revenues of the two dissolved colleges of Saint Mary and Saint Chad.—Queen Elizabeth greatly augmented her brother’s donation in 1571, by adding the whole rectory of Chirbury, in this county, with additional tithes and estates in St. Mary’s parish, which now produce a considerable revenue.

In 1798, the School having sunk into a state of comparative insignificance, a bill was passed for the better government and regulation of the Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth in this town, by which the management of the revenues, and the removal or discharge of the masters, is vested in the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (as visitor) and thirteen trustees or governors. The appointment of head and second masters rests with the Fellows of St. John’s College, Cambridge. The school is open for the gratuitous instruction of the sons of freemen, and has maintained a character of high repute from its earliest formation. We learn that under the care of its first master, Thomas Ashton, there were 290 scholars, among whom were many of the sons of the gentry of the county and from North Wales, as well as from the first families in the kingdom. Camden, when he wrote, says, “it was the best filled in all England, being indebted for their flourishinge state to provision made by the excellent and worthie Thomas Ashton,” who was instrumental in procuring the grant of augmentation from Elizabeth, and contributed greatly to the school himself, and from whose exertions and judicious regulations it preserved its usefulness for many generations.

Many persons of eminence in by-gone days received their education in Shrewsbury School. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth it sent forth one of the most brilliant ornaments of her court, the gallant and accomplished Sydney,—the “miracle of the age;”—and in the present day, under the able management and profound learning of the late head-master, Dr. Butler, it has maintained a pre-eminent rank among the Public Seminaries of sound Learning and Religious Education in this country, having produced numerous individuals who have been distinguished for their eminent classical attainments; whilst it is an acknowledged fact that scarcely any gentleman can be pointed out who has sent so many pupils to the Universities, the greater part of whom have risen into general notice and estimation, mainly owing to the excellent manner in which their natural capacities had been directed by the distinguished and successful talents of their tutor.

The affectionate interest manifested by Dr. Butler in the welfare of his pupils remained nearest to his heart to the last. [101] And in retiring from the duties of his scholastic station, in 1836, it appeared as his greatest comfort and happiness to find that St. John’s College had given a good earnest of its intention to uphold the character of the school over which he had so long and so zealously presided, by the selection of the Rev. Benjamin Hall Kennedy as has successor, an appointment (it will be admitted by all) the most conducive to the future prosperity of the school, and consequently beneficial to the town and neighbourhood; inasmuch as it is stamped upon high and indubitable authority that Mr. Kennedy is one of the most brilliant scholars which the learned editor of Æschylus ever sent forth,—the brightest star in that galaxy of distinguished pupils whose names adorn the boards of Shrewsbury school; while from his experience of Dr. Butler’s system, both as a pupil and assistant master in this seminary,—his subsequent practice as a lecturer and private tutor at College, and as an assistant master for upwards of six years at Harrow, as well as from his own unrivalled talents and high literary distinctions,—from his fine taste and sound learning,—there is not a shadow of doubt but that he will fully maintain the reputation Shrewsbury School has already acquired.

The following annual prizes are distributed—

In 1832 this ancient and royal foundation was visited by three members of the royal family within two months: by his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, Sept. 5th; by their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria, Nov. 1st.